(KEViN sANdHU) pAUL JOsEpH
company received over $30
million in loan applications, and
while less than half of those were
ultimately approved (for now,
Grouplend only o¦ers loans to
Canadians with good credit),
$30 million is "bigger than we
thought we'd see this early on."
For Grouplend's "network of
investors" who fund these loans,
Sandhu says healthy returns
(projected at seven to nine
per cent) have so far attracted
"several million dollars" from
lenders (who, for the time being,
all fund the same pool of bor-
rowers). While Grouplend isn't
available everywhere yet—at press
time, Grouplend has yet to enter
Quebec, Saskatchewan and Nova
Scotia due to regulatory hurdles—
Sandhu is con¢dent that it will be
accessible coast to coast before
year's end.
Nathaniel Payne,
an
SFU lecturer who
specializes in tech
and ¢nance, says
Grouplend's model
is "intriguing." But
it's not enough to
look at America and
assume the same
kind of company
can exist here.
"Canadian ¢nancial
institutions priori-
tized stability over
rapid growth," he
explains. "The way
Canadians are used
to banking is not like
in the U.S.... There isn't typically
a lot of change." It also remains to
be seen whether banks respond—
either by lobbying for regulatory
changes to sti…e
P2P lenders or by
competing with something simi-
lar. "These banks have massive
marketing budgets."
That said, our credit card rates
are high indeed, Payne says. "I'm
excited about Grouplend, even if
they've got an uphill battle."
CanadIans ♥
CredIt Cards
I'd Tap That
N u m e r o l o g y
by Melissa Edwards
Number of new craft breweries (many of
which will feature at this month's Vancouver Craft Beer
Week festival) launched in the two years between the
¢rst and second editions of malt maven Joe Wiebe's B.C.
beer guide, Craft Beer Revolution—a 68 per cent increase.
Wiebe says the nine new breweries that opened the year his ¢rst edition was
published seemed like a huge number at the time—until 21 more opened in
2014. "Nobody could have seen that happening," he says. Close to 20 more will
have opened by the end of 2015, and Wiebe still sees plenty of room for further
growth—particularly in cities outside Vancouver.
LENDING 2.0
Grouplend CEO
Kevin Sandhu
says Canada is
late to the game
JUNE 2015 BCBusiness 17
34
Number of craft brewing
certificate programs now avail-
able in B.c. Kwantlen unveiled
its 4,500-sq.-ft. brewing lab
in Langley last March, while
sFu launches its own business
program this October.
2
carry less than
$1,000
the average credit
card balance in
canada
carry between
$1,000 and $5,000
carry more than
$5,000
$2,627
48.4%
26%
20.67%
sOUrcE: ratesupermarket
Year-over-year change in the
B.c. market share of pack-
aged domestic craft beer in
the last quarter of 2014.
change in sales of large-
production packaged
domestic beer during
that same period.
+57.9% +0.7%
Year-over-year change in the
ket share of pack- ket share of pack- ket share of pack
aged domestic craft beer in
the last quarter of 2014.
+57.9%
